What’s on TV Saturday

10 P.M. (Cinemax) BAD WORDS (2014) Guy Trilby (Jason Bateman, who also directed), a 40-year-old bully who has wormed his way onto the spelling-bee circuit, mows down the small-fry competition with one expletive after another until he reaches the nationals. And then he encounters Chaitanya Chopra (Rohan Chand), a socially awkward 10-year-old sorely in need of a friend. “It would be something to see Mr. Bateman go authentically dark (perhaps not that dark), but it’s also enough just to watch him as he widens his eyes, furrows his brow and shows off his excellent timing,” Manohla Dargis wrote in The New York Times. “It’s a fluid feature-directing debut, and he pulls the ensemble together smoothly,” she added. “The performances are funny, appealing and, in the case of Allison Janney, as a spelling bee official, wonderful. A dowdied-down Kathryn Hahn has it tougher as Jenny, a reporter who’s chasing Guy for his story and occasional sex. It’s a pathetic role, largely because she’s a sad piñata made for the whacking simply because, it seems, the only thing worse than making kids cry is being a journalist.”

10:30 A.M. (13) RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY Lucky Severson examines the debate over teaching science in seminaries, a practice that some fear might weaken faith. Other segments look at Slum Dwellers International, an organization created to help the very poor get better treatment from their governments, and Thomas Merton, the writer and Trappist monk who was born 100 years ago on Saturday. In “Richard Heffner’s Open Mind,” at noon, William Deresiewicz discusses his book “Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life.”

3:55 P.M. (Comedy Central) THE HOUSE BUNNY (2008) An exiled Playboy Bunny (Anna Faris) in plastic stilettos stumbles into a gig as the house mother to misfit sorority sisters and finds her calling as their expedition leader through the land of men. But first, makeovers. Nathan Lee, writing in The Times, said, “This particular wheel hasn’t been reinvented, but at least it gets a nice fresh coat of bubblegum-pink paint and a star to pilot it with aplomb.”

6:15 P.M. (TCM) BORN FREE (1966) The married actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers play a game warden in Kenya and his wife, who face a heart-rending decision after Elsa, the orphaned lion cub they have raised, becomes too big to keep in this drama directed by James Hill and based on the 1960 autobiographic best seller by Joy Adamson. The composer John Barry won the Oscar for best original score and, with Don Black, best original song for “Born Free.” Vincent Canby, writing in The Times, called the film “a poignant but happy reminder of the beauty and mystery of the life cycle.”

8 P.M. (Hallmark) A WISH COME TRUE (2015) On the eve of her 30th birthday, a romantic misfit (Megan Park) makes a wish that all her previously unfulfilled wishes will come true. Then things — and men — start piling up.

9 P.M. (HBO) MEL BROOKS LIVE AT THE GEFFEN A tuxedoed Mr. Brooks takes the stage at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles to share stories about his Brooklyn childhood; his television ascent after landing a writing gig on Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows”; his marriage to Anne Bancroft; and his film career as the writer and director of “The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” He even performs some of the tunes he’s composed, like “High Anxiety,” and fields audience questions.

9 P.M. (CUNY) THE EMPEROR JONES (1933) Paul Robeson plays Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter turned island ruler, in Dudley Murphy’s film adaptation of the Eugene O’Neill play. “It is a distinguished offering, resolute and firm, with a most compelling portrayal by Paul Robeson,” Mordaunt Hall wrote in The Times.

11:30 P.M. (NBC) SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE J. K. Simmons, in contention for a best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of a music instructor in “Whiplash,” is the host. D’Angelo, who in December released his long-awaited third album, “Black Messiah,” is the musical guest.

What’s Streaming Now

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT In this cult classic, Jason Bateman stars as Michael Bluth, a good son and widowed father committed to holding his family and its real estate business together after his own father (Jeffrey Tambor) is sent to prison for white-collar crime. (netflix.com)